


Left or Right

by MellowWrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Shitty roommates, Tinder, written for KyouHaba zine 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 07:19:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14950122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellowWrites/pseuds/MellowWrites
Summary: Kyoutani’s second year of college had started out rough, but as soon as he feels it’s all getting better, his roommate steals his phone and downloads the dreaded Tinder app.At least he’s met a really cute guy...





	Left or Right

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there everyone! I’ve written this for the KyouHaba zine I moderated, _Beautiful Tension_! Here’s the link to where you can download the free digital zine!  
>  (｡◕ᴗ◕｡) Happy KyouHaba day!!

Kyoutani can feel his eye twitching. “You did what?”

Oikawa smirks, holding out his phone -  _ Kyoutani’s phone _ \- and wiggles it. Kyoutani snatches at it, immediately glaring down at his screen. “Oh calm down, it’s not so bad!”

“You went through his phone,” Iwaizumi grumbles, crunching slowly on a mouthful of frosted flakes. He looks as though he hasn’t slept, and Kyoutani wonders how good a third shift is when he barely gets to sleep. “I’d be pissed too…”

“Iwa-chan, I’m trying to be helpful!”

“You and helpful are two things that never go hand in hand…”

Kyoutani glares at the new app sitting in the center of his home screen. “Why the fuck did you download Tinder onto my phone?”

Oikawa huffs, crossing his arms and sticking his nose up in a pout. “Because you’re sad and lonely and it’s making me feel sad and lonely!”

“Then maybe you should bother your boyfriend about that,” Kyoutani scowls, jabbing a thumb in Iwaizumi’s direction. The poor guy is sprawled over the counter trying to stay awake, his bowl of cereal threatening to topple of out his hands. “Your emotional baggage should be on him, not me!”

Oikawa blows a raspberry, waving his hand dismissively. “Iwa-chan is busy, it’s not his fault! You just… need to find a significant other?”

“He doesn’t give two shits about your love life,” Iwaizumi mumbles, yawning as he sits up and readjusts the hold on his bowl. “He wants you to move out.”

“ _ Iwa-chan! _ ”

Kyoutani feels his stomach drop at the news. “You’re kicking me out…?”

They stop their bickering and turn towards Kyoutani with identical frowns. “No,  _ Tooru  _ is kicking you out—”

“I’m not  _ kicking him out _ !”

“—I don’t care if you stay,” Iwaizumi shrugs, ignoring Oikawa completely, “but you did agree that this would only be a month, and it’s been three…”

Kyoutani’s shoulders droop as he recalls the deal they made. He was having a hard time with his roommate in the dorms earlier that year and Iwaizumi was kind enough to let him crash at his apartment. When things didn’t get any better, Iwaizumi offered to let him stay until he found his own place, much to the annoyance of his boyfriend. Oikawa clearly didn’t appreciate having a third tenant, even temporarily, but Kyoutani thought that things would be fine so long as he was actively looking for his own place.

Apparently, he was wrong.

“Look, KyouKen-chan,” Oikawa starts, turning from his now slumped-over boyfriend. Kyoutani scowls at the nickname. “It’s a two-for-one win; you get out of the single-zone  _ and _ you get a fancy new roommate!”

“You’re ridiculous,” Kyoutani drones. Oikawa laughs. “I don’t know how Iwaizumi puts up with you…”

Oikawa smirks, “well, I’m not one to kiss and tell, but—”

“I’m leaving,” Kyoutani immediately turns, grabbing his jacket and bag as he heads out. Oikawa’s cackling resounds through the kitchen behind him, cutting out with a squawk when Iwaizumi, undoubtedly, throws his spoon at him. Kyoutani doesn’t care to check as he shuts the door behind him.

The morning sun is blinding as he leaves the building, and the frost on the grass reminds him of winter’s approach. A white puff of air escapes his lips as he starts walking through the apartment compound, looking at his phone and assessing the damage.

There’s a notification from the app Oikawa downloaded and Kyoutani grumbles as he checks it. It’s a message from a blonde girl - Yachi Hitoka apparently, her profile picture smiling sweetly at him - confirming plans for later that day.

Kyoutani stops, partly because he’s reached the road that separates him from main campus and partly because he doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. Scrolling up, he notices other previously sent messages and scowls.

Apparently, Oikawa took it upon himself to match him with people  _ and _ secure him dates as soon as possible.

He and Yachi were meeting at Starbucks in the Student Center at around one in the afternoon; it’s currently 7:30 AM.

Shoving his freezing hands and his phone into his pockets in an attempt to warm them, Kyoutani crosses the street and continues on his way. He’s some ways past the on-campus housing and can see the dorms and Student Center when he pulls his phone back out to check his calendar. 

Kyoutani tries not to sigh when he realizes his first class is on the other side of the campus in the observatory. Why a class based on looking at the stars would start at 8:00 AM is beyond him, but he speeds up anyway. Scrolling down the list of events for Mondays, Kyoutani stops once again when he sees a new event he doesn’t remember putting in.

A box, in bright pink and at 1:00 PM today, says:  _ Date with Yachi Hitoka (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ _ Location:  _ Student Center Starbucks _

He is going to  _ murder Oikawa Tooru _ . He  _ knew  _ he should never have told Oikawa that he had his entire life schedule in his phone calendar…

Yachi’s question is still burning up at him as he continues to the art building. He’s not sure how to reply. Should he go along with it or should he tell her this was all his stupid roommate’s fault? Kyoutani can’t even figure out why Oikawa would hook him up with a girl when everyone practically knows he’s gay.

Either way, he’s going to have to explain to her what really happened, and the idea of rage-typing to this girl about how stupid Oikawa is isn’t something he wants to deal with. So, with a deep breath, Kyoutani takes the easy way out.

**Yachi Hitoka**  
[07:20] We’re still meeting at Starbucks around 1, right?

**Kyoutani Kentarou**  
[07:35] yeah, i’ll see you then  
[07:36] class now, ttyl

 **Yachi Hitoka**  
[07:36] Okay!  
[07:36] See you then!

Kyoutani locks his phone and shoves his hands into his jacket pockets as he hurries down the stairs past the Student Center and University Park. He makes it to the arts and sciences side of campus and pushes into the art building, rushing up the stairs and slipping into the observatory with ten minutes to spare. Watari smiles at him, moving his stuff over a bit to accommodate him.

“Good morning,” Watari greets, and Kyoutani grunts in response as he sits down. “Any plans this week?”

Kyoutani shrugs, “same as every week, Watari…”

Watari chuckles. “Right; classes and sleeping.”

He thinks about telling Watari about the stupid date, but mentioning it would be awkward since they barely talk outside of astronomy. Besides, the date was only a one-time thing.

Their ever-enthusiastic professor begins and ends class, and Watari is slow to pack his things. Kyoutani thinks Watari’s lucky his classes are in the same building (he still questions why the observatory was on top of the art building) while Kyoutani has to rush around campus.

It’s what he gets for trying to get his general education classes out of the way. Nodding to Watari, Kyoutani hurries over to the math department. He feels his phone vibrate, thinking it’s a reminder for class. Kyoutani pulls out his phone and pauses in the middle of the walkway.

Another Tinder notification. Furrowing his brow, he wonders if Yachi is canceling on him (a man can dream), but it’s a different girl that’s messaged him.

**Misaki Hana**  
[09:45] I did want to see that play on Thursday at Quirk  
[09:45] How about that? :)

Taking a slow, deep breath, Kyoutani answers her with the same response he gave to Yachi and backs out of the messages to see if there are any other prospective dates. To his annoyance, there is, with Nametsu Mai.

Opening that message, he finds plans set for Wednesday at the E-Zone and Kyoutani tries his best not to sneer at his phone.

_ Why were they all women?  _ Oikawa is every bit the idiot that Iwaizumi says he is.

Switching applications to his calendar and sliding through the week, he double checks his schedule and finds that Oikawa added a few random things - all in pink as well - but the main two were the dates with Yachi and Nametsu.

He deletes the other pink scheduled messages (they were all punctuated with  _ (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ _ every time, fuck Oikawa) and leaves the ones for Yachi and Nametsu. He does however change the color to green, the color for events unrelated to school, and removes the stupid face Oikawa added. Switching back to Tinder, he double checks the information Misaki sent about the play and adds it to his calendar for Thursday.

After, Kyoutani pockets his phone and heaves a sigh, hurrying to his math class. By the time it’s over, he has a little more than an hour to kill before he needs to be at the Student Center’s Starbucks, so he slowly makes his way through University Park to the Student Center for lunch. He works on his math assignments for Wednesday’s class in the food court until his phone goes off, prompting him to pack up and head towards the stairs for the second floor.

He’s focusing on his phone to double check what Yachi looks like when he collides with someone. Locking his phone and putting it away, Kyoutani looks up to the stranger to apologise and comes to a complete stop when he sees him.

The guy is slightly taller than him, with soft, wind-swept, light brown hair that it practically shines silver. His face is gorgeous and has him wondering if the guy stepped out of a Renaissance painting (fuck that art history class he took last semester), his cheekbones high with a dusting of a light pink blush and his nose perfectly straight. Even his lips seemed perfect and temptingly pink. His eyes captivate Kyoutani the most, shining with curiosity as he looks Kyoutani over. They’re a soft brown, but the way they gleam lend themselves to orange hues - though it may be his imagination.

“S-sorry,” Kyoutani manages to say, and his knees grow weak when the gorgeous man smiles and  _ fuck are those dimples _ ?

“It’s okay,” he laughs, and his expression shifts to amusement as he looks Kyoutani over once more. “Hey, aren’t you in my sci-fi literature class?”   
  


He hopes so. “Tuesday-Thursday at 9:30 in Pray-Harrold 307?”

Gorgeous somehow smiles even more and his eyes light up. “That’s the one!”

Kyoutani can’t help but smile back, but knowing his “chronic bitch face” (thanks Oikawa), it might not look as nice as this man standing before him. “I’m Kyoutani Kentarou,” he says, extending his hand.

“Yahaba Shigeru,” is Gorgeous’ response, wrapping his long fingers around Kyoutani’s for the handshake. His hand is warm and Kyoutani can only hope his isn’t clammy. “Nice to meet you, Kyoutani,” Yahaba says, to which Kyoutani has to stop himself from saying “same” immediately after because Yahaba continues on, “maybe we can meet up sometime and talk about the readings?”

His mouth feels dry so he just nods in response. Yahaba doesn’t seem to mind as he pulls his hand away, a barista calling out his name at the counter. Yahaba glances over before looking back to him, and Kyoutani wishes they wouldn’t have to part ways.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then?”

“Definitely,” Kyoutani replies, but he’s not sure Yahaba heard from how softly the word comes out, so he nods once more.

Yahaba waves as he leaves, and Kyoutani watches him go the entire time. He almost forgets why he’s there until a timid voice calls out to him, making him look around before seeing the small girl standing before him.

He doesn’t need to double-check his phone, her profile picture was spot-on: small, blonde, and adorable. Cute, but not his type. She fidgets nervously in front of him, so much so it’s kind of concerning. “Yachi…?”

“H-hello!” she stammers, unable to make eye contact as her cheeks start to gain a rosy hue, and Kyoutani wonders what a girl like this is doing on an app like Tinder. “Uh… did you… want to order something…?”

This will be a lot easier than he thought. “Sorry, I… I have to ask,” he starts, clearing his throat, “but… you don’t seem like the type to be using Tinder…?”

Yachi’s face turns a brighter shade of red and she stares at her feet. “I… no, not really,” she starts to play with the fabric of her skirt, “my friend suggested I use it, but I…” She goes quiet and Kyoutani shifts his weight from one foot to the other as he waits for her to continue.

She doesn’t, so he tries again. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I’m not exactly the type to use it either.”

It seems to help, because Yachi is now looking him in the eye. “R-really…? You seemed like you use it all the time, though…”

Kyoutani has no idea what to say to that - Oikawa’s dating Iwaizumi, he  _ better  _ not be using Tinder to pick up girls anymore. “Uh… to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t me who messaged you.”

Yachi gapes up at him, face paling as her shoulders tense and it looks like she wants to sink into the floor. “Wha… huh…?”

Scratching at his neck, Kyoutani shrugs a little. “My… roommate thought it was time for me to date… but I’m actually not into girls, so I’m not sure what he was thinking…”

Yachi’s shoulders relax, her face regaining the soft pink hue from before, and it almost looks like she’s excited to hear it. “I… I completely understand!” She looks around before stepping closer, and Kyoutani figures she’s going to share a secret, so he leans down to allow her to whisper into his ear. “I’m gay, too! My friend just didn’t know it yet…”

Kyoutani smiles, standing straight again. “So, do you still want to do this date, or…?”

Yachi seems to be more at ease. “Y-yeah! I-if you don’t mind?”

“Not at all,” he smiles and it earns him a smile in return, so the two move to order drinks from the barista before finding somewhere to sit. They don’t talk about much, mostly about their majors and the LGBT groups on campus, but for once Kyoutani doesn’t feel so angry with Oikawa for touching his phone. Yachi makes good company once she’s no longer nervous, and she only really asks him about tips on being more confident in herself; to which he isn’t sure how to answer her, but he tries all the same.

It ends within the hour when Yachi receives a call from the friend who got her onto the app and they exchange phone numbers before going their separate ways. It ends just in time for Kyoutani to run to the science complex for his final class, the astronomy lecture that ties to the lab. Again, Watari is waiting for him, but they don’t have time to talk as the professor jumps right into lecture.

With class done and over with, Kyoutani decides to go back to the apartment and hopes that Oikawa is at work so he doesn’t have to be hounded by the idiot about the app. It’s empty when he returns, but as he decides to head to bed early, he remembers what tomorrow will bring.

He stares up at his ceiling, recalling Yahaba’s sweet smile and melodic laugh, and suddenly his brain won’t shut up enough for him to even think about closing his eyes. Kyoutani tosses and turns until it’s very late, and by then Oikawa and Iwaizumi are home and he’s listening to things that makes him wish he’d fallen asleep sooner.

At 8:00 AM he’s pulling himself out of bed and wishing death to his horny roommates. Kyoutani’s not even sure what time he finally fell asleep, or even when they fell asleep. Silently, he curses the two of them for being able to sleep in as he stumbles his way through the apartment and eventually out the door into the pre-winter air. It slaps him awake as soon as he steps outside, and Kyoutani can feel his chronic bitch face take over.

Pray-Harrold is on the other side of campus, so just as he had the day before, Kyoutani hurries his way through campus and this time detours through University Park. The park is foggy from the man-made lake, but it’s much faster than walking around it. It’s only when he gets to the stairs of Pray-Harrold that he remembers who he’ll be seeing again.

Taking a deep breath and hoping he doesn’t look as dead as he feels, Kyoutani practically sprints up the stairs and rushes to get to room 207. There’s about ten minutes before class begins, and he doesn’t see Yahaba yet, so he takes his usual seat in the side desk of the middle row.

He tries to keep himself relaxed and doesn’t look around, bouncing his leg a little in anticipation. Kyoutani checks the time on his phone and sees there’s five minutes before the professor walks in, as well as a text message from Yachi.

**Text from Yachi Hitoka**  
[09:25] thanks for yesterday, Kyoutani  
[09:25] your tips helped me come out to Hinata

Kyoutani smirks and opens the text messages, and finds a few more streaming in about how supportive her friend is being. It’s as he’s replying that someone drops down into the seat next to him and surprises him into prematurely sending a text.

Yahaba’s grinning at him. “Good morning, Kyoutani. You look exhausted.”

Kyoutani stares at him for a moment, his sleep deprived mind unable to keep up. “Uh… yeah, couldn’t sleep…”

“It’s okay, I’ll take good notes for you,” Yahaba winks at him, and Kyoutani wants to die. He’s not even sure how to respond, but luckily he doesn’t need to as their professor walks in.

Kyoutani spends the entire class trying not to look at Yahaba and having to do so because the professor apparently decided today was a good day to use the board on the right side of the room for discussion on their current book,  _ The Left Hand of Darkness _ . Yahaba glances over at him every now and then, and Kyoutani tries his hardest not to maintain eye contact for too long - Yahaba might misunderstand and think he’s staring at him on purpose.

But he is. Kyoutani can’t deny that he’s been staring at Yahaba the entire time and missing the entire debate on the use of gender in the plot. He can’t help it though - mostly because Yahaba is right in his field of vision, but also because Yahaba is insanely attractive and Kyoutani curses himself for never looking around at his classmates before.

Yahaba’s hands are nice to watch as he scribbles down notes, and from there Kyoutani begins to notice how neat and smooth his handwriting is. Kyoutani’s looks like chicken scratch compared to his, and he silently hopes that Yahaba will never ask to borrow his notes.

The class ends sooner than expected and Kyoutani almost jumps in his seat when he realizes he’s just staring at Yahaba while he packs his notes away. Yahaba glances to him with a smirk, “you have another class today?”

Kyoutani closes his mouth when he notices his jaw hanging open, but he has to answer if he doesn’t want to seem like a total moron. “I, uh… yeah, it’s in an hour downstairs.” The only upside to Tuesdays and Thursdays, honestly.

Yahaba frowns a little, and Kyoutani can’t believe himself when the only word that crosses his mind is how cute he looks. “Shoot, mine’s in Porter…”

“When?” Kyoutani asks quickly, “I mean, Porter is kind of next door, so if it’s not in fifteen minutes…”

This earns him a smile, and Kyoutani feels a flutter in his stomach at the sight. “Well, I’d be crazy to put my classes so close together!” Yahaba’s laugh just sends another thrill through him, and Kyoutani bites his lip at the feeling. “My next class isn’t for another hour too, you want to hang out?”

Kyoutani’s mouth feels both dry and disgustingly wet, so to avoid possibly spitting all over Yahaba, he simply nods and shoves his book away as he stands. Yahaba joins him and they leave the classroom together. Unfortunately, Pray-Harrold is seven stories tall and generates a wave of bodies between classes. Kyoutani immediately feels cornered in the atmosphere.

Yahaba doesn’t seem to mind it though, and Kyoutani immediately follows him as he leads the way through the crowd to the stairs and out the exit. Kyoutani breathes easier outside despite there still being several people, and they make their way over to a bench between their buildings.

“So, what class do you have next?” Yahaba asks as they sit, pulling his own jacket a little tighter.

Kyoutani doesn’t mind the cool breeze himself, the sun warm enough to fend off the approaching winter chills. “Anthropology; I’m trying to finish off my gen eds this semester.”

“Smart plan,” Yahaba nods, his knee bouncing a little. “I decided to space mine out - helps later on when I’m drowning in my major and want a break with something simple like gen eds.”

“That’s true,” Kyoutani fidgets, wondering briefly if he made a mistake. “What’s your major?”

Yahaba smiles sweetly, “Elementary education for reading comprehension. A teacher, basically. What’s yours?”

“Exercise science,” Kyoutani mumbles. Yahaba looks like a teacher, he thinks, though he’s not sure if that’s a compliment. It feels like one, but some people might take it the wrong way.

“Makes sense, you look pretty athletic,” Yahaba chuckles, reaching over to pinch at Kyoutani’s bicep. His face immediately burns at the contact and Yahaba laughs again.

He hopes Yahaba never stops laughing.

They settle into an easy conversation from there, mostly about classes and their majors. Kyoutani listens intently as Yahaba recounts what happened in his writing class the day before, something about a classmate who decided to disagree with everything Yahaba had to say. The way Yahaba’s nose scrunches up in annoyance at the memory has Kyoutani smiling, a warm, fuzzy feeling settling into his stomach the more he listens to Yahaba talk. Even the chill in the air dissipates in such a way that Kyoutani’s pretty sure he could stay on this bench for hours if it meant staying next to Yahaba.

It ends, though, much sooner than he had hoped when Yahaba checks his phone and immediately stands. “Oh crap, class starts in five minutes! I’ll see you later!”

Kyoutani can barely shout his goodbye as Yahaba turns and sprints up the hill to Porter, leaving Kyoutani to stare after him. Registering what Yahaba had said a moment later, he gathers his things and hurries back into Pray-Harrold and into the lecture hall near the door, settling into the back where no one else sits. It’s only when his professor begins her usual greeting that Kyoutani realizes he never got Yahaba’s number. With that thought, the rest of his Wednesday afternoon goes by slowly, and he leaves campus with a sour taste in his mouth.

Back in the apartment, Kyoutani checks his phone and finds Nametsu has messaged him on Tinder again. Falling onto the couch as lazily as possible, he opens the app and glares at his screen.

**Nametsu Mai**  
[13:45] Hey, still on for the e-zone around 12 tomorrow, right?

**Kyoutani Kentarou**  
[14:50] yep

He doesn’t even wait for a response, clicking out of the chat to look at the rest of the app. Kyoutani hasn’t even paid attention to the rest of the functions despite having it for more than a day. Clicking his tongue, he makes his way to the main screen and finds a pretty girl’s picture waiting for him to swipe left or right.

Kyoutani stares at her image for a second before swiping left. The next profile to come up is, once more, a pretty girl, though there’s another girl in the picture with her. It’s badly cropped, but it’s clear the focus is supposed to be on the shorter girl. He swipes left again, his brows furrowing together as another girl’s picture comes up.

“What the fuck…?”

“Having trouble with the app?” Oikawa asks, and Kyoutani nearly throws his phone in surprise. He twists around, gaping up at the older man. Oikawa has a clip in his hair and his glasses are pushed up his nose, which only tells Kyoutani he had been in his room studying. He’s smirking down at Kyoutani though, and that just makes him more annoyed. “Jeez, I didn’t think you’d jump that much!”

“What do you want?” he sneers, sitting up in his seat a little more properly.

Oikawa folds his arms and raises one of his eyebrows (seriously, how do people do that? All Kyoutani manages to do is look pissed off when he tries). “I was getting a snack and happened to see an angry puppy swiping left on all those pretty girls,” he answers, and Kyoutani’s glare only intensifies. Sighing, Oikawa continues on as he moves past him towards the kitchen, “sorry to bother you then, don’t let me keep you from glaring at all those perspective dates!”

Kyoutani rolls his eyes. “Where’s Iwaizumi?”

“Class, then work,” Oikawa answers, his voice echoing from having his head stuck in the fridge. “He told me not to wait up for him, but if you wanna see him you’ll have to go to the station - I guess he’s doing a double again and staying until 3:00 AM.”

Kyoutani grunts, closing out of Tinder. “I’m going to bed…”

Oikawa laughs, saying something about it only being three in the afternoon. Kyoutani doesn’t bother to respond, kicking his door closed behind him and falling onto his bed. He keeps his face smothered in pillows until he can’t breathe, rolling to his side to grab his bag for his homework. It’s dark when he does finish his math homework, so Kyoutani turns out his lights and goes to bed without much thought.

He regrets not having dinner the next morning, his stomach feeling like it’s trying to claw its way out of his body. Kyoutani stumbles in the early morning darkness out of his room and winces at the kitchen’s light when he eventually makes it there. Iwaizumi only glances at him once before grabbing a second bowl and pouring more of the cereal he has out.

They don’t say anything, standing side by side in the quiet of the kitchen as they munch on frosted flakes. Kyoutani looks to the stove, and he wonders why Iwaizumi is still awake at 5:00 AM; after pulling a double at work, he usually falls straight into bed with Oikawa.

He doesn’t ask though, eating the cereal as quickly as he can to quiet the desperation in his stomach. Iwaizumi finishes before he does, putting the bowl in the sink and rinsing it quickly. They nod to one another as Iwaizumi yawns, leaving the kitchen to shuffle his way into the other bedroom where Oikawa’s soft snores are coming from. The click of the door silences any noise from there, and Kyoutani stops munching to stare down into his milk and soggy flakes.

The loneliness that suddenly comes over him is strange, and Kyoutani doesn’t know what to do with the sudden wave of sadness. He swallows his food with some difficulty, and dumps the rest of his bowl down the drain, settling it on top of Iwaizumi’s after a quick rinse. Kyoutani licks his lips as he stares into the sink, his thoughts oddly blank before he remembers the supposed date that day.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kyoutani leaves the kitchen and flicks off the lights, heading to the bathroom to begin his morning routine. He’s ready sooner than usual, and spends the next hour staring at his phone’s messages. Nametsu promises to kick his ass at Smash Bros later, and he’s doesn’t know how to reply.

He makes it to the astronomy lab with plenty of time to spare, but Watari is already there and going through his notes. Kyoutani doesn’t want to know what time Watari usually wakes up to be able to make it to an 8:00 AM class a full half hour before it even begins, and simply takes his seat next to him with a sigh.

Watari grins at him, too chipper for this early time, but Kyoutani doesn’t think he could be mad at the guy. “Morning, Kyoutani; what are your plans for the day?”

Kyoutani shrugs, “date around noon at the E-Zone I guess…”

Watari looks surprised. “Really? Who with?”

“Some girl from Tinder,” Kyoutani mumbles, “got another date tomorrow because of the stupid app…”

Watari frowns at this, “well, is it going to be fun?”

“Some play at Quirk,” Kyoutani doesn’t meet Watari’s gaze. “Don’t really know what it is…”

“Oh,” Watari hesitates a moment before leaning around to get a better look at Kyoutani’s face. “Well, I… don’t want to overstep my boundaries, but why are you going on these dates if you don’t really care?”

Kyoutani sighs, long and slow, turning to look at Watari properly. “Because I didn’t set the dates up. My roommate did, and I don’t want to explain the situation over text…”

Watari nods, and it looks like he understands for the most part. “Sounds like a complicated situation. I hope they’ll understand.”

“Hopefully, especially since I’m not straight,” Kyoutani grumbles, and Watari gapes at him. “What…?”

“N-nothing!” He smiles, and it’s so genuine it almost hurts. “Just didn’t know that about you, that’s all.”

Kyoutani shrugs again, just as their professor walks in to begin the class. Watari sends him one more smile before turning his attention forward, and Kyoutani pulls out his notes to do the same.

The class ends a little over its allotted time, so Kyoutani rushes from the building to get to math on time, barely hearing Watari call out to him. He doesn’t have time to go back and Kyoutani quietly tells himself to ask Watari about it later in the lecture.

Luckily, his math professor wraps the class up right on time, and Kyoutani packs up slowly before reminding himself he needs to go to the Student Center today. He honestly hopes that Nametsu will be as understanding as Yachi - Hell, if she could end up being gay too, that’d be awesome. Dragging his feet, Kyoutani makes his way through University Park and heads to the food court, grabbing something to eat while he waits for Nametsu’s message.

While he’s eating his chicken tenders, his phone goes off with a flurry of messages, all from Nametsu. Frowning, Kyoutani unlocks his phone to read through them.

**Nametsu Mai**  
[12:13] I’m so sorry!  
[12:13] I’m going to be a little late  
[12:13] my friend needed my help at his dorm  
[12:14] I promise to be there by 12:30

**Kyoutani Kentarou**  
[12:15] no worries, my next class isn’t until 2:30

**Nametsu Mai**  
[12:15] great, I’ll be there soon! :)

Kyoutani doesn’t answer her, suddenly feeling nervous about this whole thing. He looks to his food then back to his phone, scrolling up in the conversation to see exactly what Oikawa had sent to these girls to get them to agree to dates so easily. In hindsight, he probably should have done this sooner.

“Mind if I join you?” Someone asks, the voice far too familiar for his liking, and Kyoutani freezes at the sound. Slowly, he looks up to face Yahaba, gaping at him in surprise. Yahaba winces a little, “or… not?”

Kyoutani has no idea what his face is doing so he shakes his head quickly, gesturing to the seat across from him. “No, no! Sit, yeah, you can… yeah…”

Yahaba chuckles a little, sitting down slowly with a miniature pizza from another place within the food court. “You okay? You seem a little… off?”

Kyoutani shrugs, “I just don’t know what I’m getting myself into…”

“Anything I can help with?” Yahaba asks, stabbing his straw into the lid of his drink.

Kyoutani sighs, “I’m not sure, to be honest…”

Yahaba nods, biting his lip. “Well, if there’s something I can help with, let me know?”

Kyoutani stares at him, and suddenly he wishes this was the date he was supposed to be on. “I’ll keep you updated, yeah.”

Smiling, Yahaba gives a little huff of a laugh before eating his pizza. It’s not the most attractive food to eat, but damnit, there Yahaba goes again, being the most beautiful person Kyoutani has ever seen. Trying to keep himself from staring (because it’s creepy, Kyoutani, stop fucking doing that), he goes back to eating his own food.

“Kyoutani!” Someone calls, and Kyoutani looks up to find a nice looking girl with golden brown hair in a ponytail hurrying over to them. “I’m so sorry, my friend was adamant about me being the one to help him with his project and I lost track of time,” Nametsu (it has to be her, and at this point, Kyoutani should probably look at the pictures before going to these dates to make sure) looks relieved to see him still waiting for her, but she turns to Yahaba with a little bit of surprise. “Oh hello, I’m Nametsu Mai.”

Yahaba smiles up at her, “I’m Yahaba Shigeru - sorry, did I interrupt something?”

Nametsu laughs, “no, of course not! Kyoutani and I were supposed to meet like thirty minutes ago to play some games at the e-zone but I ran late.”

Nodding, Yahaba looks between Kyoutani and Nametsu before clearing his throat. “I uh… I guess I’ll leave you both to it then.”

Nametsu grabs a seat, pulling it up to their table. “Oh, you don’t have to! You could join us, I mean, Smash Bros isn’t just a two player game.”

Yahaba laughs, and Kyoutani can’t help but feel it’s out of nervousness. “I uh… thank you, but I actually need to leave soon anyway; my friend and I were supposed to compare notes for our class tomorrow.”

Nametsu frowns but she nods anyway. “Okay, sure… it was nice to meet you, Yahaba.”

“Nice to meet you too, Nametsu,” Yahaba packs the uneaten half of his pizza into it’s tiny box and grabs his things, smiling over to Kyoutani. “See you later then, Kyoutani.”

Nodding, Kyoutani watches him leave and isn’t sure if he should have tried to stop him or not. Nametsu hums to herself, gaining his attention back on her. “You like him, don’t you?”

Kyoutani only stares at her.

Nametsu sighs, “the friend I was telling you about is Futakuchi - you know him, right?”

“I,” Kyoutani hesitates. He didn’t think he’d be hearing about Futakuchi again so soon, and while his gut is telling him to lie, he can tell Nametsu knows. Sighing, he nods, “yeah…”

“You’re his roommate,” Nametsu leans back in her seat, crossing her arms, though they remain loose. “He told me about you; actually, he explained a few things.”

“He started it,” Kyoutani mumbles, “if he doesn’t want me there, then why would I stay?”

Nametsu smiles, though it’s weak and makes him wonder if she’s already heard it a thousand times. “Futakuchi is a difficult person, I’ll give you that. For what it’s worth, he is sorry about going crazy over who’s side is who’s.”

“Did you agree to go out with me because of him or was it something else?” Kyoutani asks, and Nametsu gives a hearty laugh.

“Yeah, part of it was because of Futakuchi,” she sits back up and nods to him, “but also because I wanted to find out why a gay guy is on Tinder pretending to be straight.”

Kyoutani gapes at her. Unlocking his phone, he clicks out of their chat and hands his phone over to her. “How do I fix it?”

Nametsu holds back her chuckles, taking his phone away and clicking through the app’s features. “Do I get to know what was happening here?”

Kyoutani sighs, “after what happened with Futakuchi, I moved into an apartment with this guy I know from the gym and his boyfriend, but his boyfriend decided he didn’t like it so he got me Tinder and told me to find a girlfriend or a new roommate.”

She looks confused, “does… does he not know you’re gay or something?”

“I have no idea what that idiot thinks,” Kyoutani scowls, but Nametsu snorts a laugh again anyway.

“Well, I can switch it over to a preference for men if you’d like, or you could just delete the app outright,” Nametsu shrugs, “no harm in that, right?”

“I have one more date tomorrow,” he mutters, “and then I’ll delete it.”

Nametsu frowns down at his phone before looking back up to him. “Why not just tell her it was a misunderstanding and leave it at that?”

“Feels rude,” he picks at a loose thread on his sweater as he tries to think of the best way to explain it, “and I don’t want to type it all out if she ends up having more questions.”

She contemplates his answer, bobbing her head after a moment. “Well, you can change the settings here if you want, or you can just delete it after that date tomorrow. Up to you,” Nametsu hands his phone back over, and Kyoutani looks at the settings page.

Oikawa really did set him up as being interested in women, and Kyoutani can’t even begin to imagine how that guy could have missed that fact about him. For all his annoyances, Oikawa seemed to be the only one who understood what was bothering him during the time he’s lived with the two lovebirds.

Nametsu stands and gestures towards the corner of the Student Center. “So, you wanna go play Smash or what?”

Kyoutani looks between her and the entrance to the E-Zone, seeing other students just within playing pool or other games along the walls. “You still want to do this?”   
  


“It’s not really a date considering you’re gay,” Nametsu explains, rolling her eyes, “but I meant it when I said I would kick your ass at Smash Bros today.”

Kyoutani narrows his eyes and stands, grabbing his trash to throw it away. “You’re on,” he says, earning a whoop of excitement from her as she turned to run into the gaming room.

He’s sad to say that Nametsu is amazing at the game, and Kyoutani can only claim one victory against her. She changes characters every time, and Kyoutani can’t imagine how often she plays to be good with any character. Nametsu leaves exactly an hour later, telling him she’d talk to Futakuchi again and see about getting him back into the dorms with the cranky guy. Exchanging numbers in the event he does delete Tinder, Kyoutani waves goodbye to her and glances back to his phone.

Immediately he regrets not getting Yahaba’s number once more.

His phone pings with an email, his astronomy professor for the lecture at 2:30 claiming class to be canceled and Kyoutani frowns. He knows Watari wanted to talk about something, but he doubts he’ll see him again before Monday’s class to ask. It’s almost two o’clock now, so Kyoutani shoulders his bag and decides to head to the library to kill some time.

Kyoutani is surprised at how much work he actually finishes before deciding to leave, the campus shrouded in darkness aside from the lamp posts along the walkways. It’s even colder than before, making Kyoutani wonder about the campus security people Iwaizumi works with and whether or not they’re keeping warm as they walk students across campus.

He’s rounding the pillars that hold the library’s clocktower when he sees the ugly yellow jackets of the exact people he just thought about, and Kindaichi immediately waves to him as they approach. “Hey Kyoutani, want us to walk you home?”

He really doesn’t need it, but they have a stupid quota system that Iwaizumi bitches about all the time, so he nods once. “Sure,” he says, handing his student ID to the other guy, Kunimi.

Despite the walk being long, Kindaichi is able to fill the void with mindless chatter, and Kunimi occasionally joins in to make it more bearable. Kyoutani doesn’t mind, but the guy can talk a lot when he’s nervous, and sometimes Kyoutani wonders what it is about him that makes Kindaichi so nervous.

They reach the edge of campus and they both stop as Kyoutani steps up to the road. “Thanks again,” he says, waving them off, “you can call in that it’s complete and not wait for me.”

Kunimi nods once as Kindaichi waves back. “Have a good night, Kyoutani!”

He doesn’t look back, hurrying across the road to the apartment buildings, though he does put up a thumb to tell Kindaichi he heard him. Kyoutani doesn’t check to see if Oikawa is home and heads straight to bed, once again forgetting to eat dinner.

Waking later than usual, Kyoutani rushes out the door to his first class and he has to remind himself to buy something in Pray-Harrold’s cafe if he wants to make it through sci-fi lit this morning. He stops dead in his tracks when he remembers where he’s going, and suddenly more than hunger pains flutter through his stomach.

Yahaba’s in this class.

With a spring in his step, Kyoutani hurries off again and can only hope that today is the day he gets Yahaba’s number.

Only Yahaba doesn’t show up to class. Their professor begins the final lecture for  _ The Left Hand of Darkness _ right on time, and Kyoutani looks around to notice that Yahaba isn’t there at all. His leg begins to bounce, hopeful that there’s a good reason for him not to show up. The professor drags on, making Kyoutani wish they had a discussion today instead of lecture.

Waiting for his next class goes much the same way, and anthropology is almost as bad as the second hand ticks by at the slowest pace possible. One o’clock finally comes and Kyoutani can barely contain himself as he throws his books into his bag and bolts from the room. He’s not even really sure where he’s going until he’s at University Park, standing on the arched bridge and staring down at the water. He drops his bag and sags against the railing, watching fish swim by and wondering whether the school actually takes fish out of the pond or if they stay in there to be frozen during winter.

They probably take them out…

His phone vibes in his pocket and Kyoutani slowly drags it out, noticing messages from Misaki are coming in. Unlocking it quickly, he reads over her messages and briefly considers canceling on her with the full explanation.

But he can’t bring himself to do it, Misaki’s excitement at seeing  _ Hamlet _ (oh fuck, they’re seeing  _ Hamlet _ ?) is palpable through her messages and he can’t kill that excitement. So he sighs and responds to her, saying that yes, he’ll meet her outside of Quirk at 6:45 and that, yes, he’ll try his best to dress nicely for her.

Kyoutani hopes he’s not making a mistake, and a few hours later he’s dressed in a nice collared shirt and the nicest pair of jeans he could find. Sighing, he checks the time and decides now is a good time to head out, making his way back onto campus and towards Quirk Theater.

He’s made it by 6:40, and Misaki is so easy to find in the crowd of other students - mostly because he thought ahead and double checked her photos, but also because she’s wearing a yellow dress that pops in the crowd.

Misaki smiles at him as he walks up, and he does his best to smile back. “Thank you so  _ so _ much for coming with me, Kyoutani,” she says, and Kyoutani can only nod. “I know, not a lot of people care to see Shakespeare plays, but I’ve been wanting to see this since I saw the advertisements in September.”

Kyoutani nods again, “of course, not a problem…”

Misaki frowns a little, “hey, are you—”

“Hey there, Kyoutani!” They both turn, and Kyoutani can’t help but stare as Watari and Yahaba approach them. Watari is smiling so brightly, but Yahaba can’t meet his gaze. “I didn’t think we’d see you here!”

Kyoutani is too busy gaping at Yahaba to notice it right away. Shaking his head, Kyoutani turns to Watari with narrowed eyes. “I told—” he stops, trying to recall whether he did say he was going to be here tonight. He could have sworn he did. “Right… yeah,” Kyoutani turns and gestures to Misaki, “this is Misaki. Misaki, this is Watari from my astronomy class and Yahaba from sci-fi lit.”

She smiles at them both, “nice to meet you.”

Watari is the only one to answer. “Nice to meet you, too. We’ll uh… leave you guys to your date then.” He grabs Yahaba’s arm and pulls him inside, and Kyoutani watches them go.

Misaki looks between him and the other two, frowning once more. “I’m not quite sure, but I think they weren’t happy to see us together…?”

Kyoutani sighs, “I’m sorry, Misaki, I need to explain something to you…”

“What do you mean?” Misaki is watching him, and Kyoutani can only hope she’ll understand.

It takes a moment, but he explains the entire situation to Misaki as best as he can. She nods every now and then, not interrupting him once as he tells her about Oikawa and how dumb he can be. Misaki even laughs when he tells her he can’t believe Oikawa didn’t know he was gay. Kyoutani waits after he finishes explaining to her, and Misaki doesn’t meet his eyes for a moment.

“I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t explain it to you when you asked if I wanted to go to see  _ Hamlet _ ,” Kyoutani hangs his head a little, “but I thought it would be better than messaging it all to you.”

Misaki nods. “I understand. Thank you for telling me.” Kyoutani looks back up to her and sees her smiling now. “I was just happy someone would come see  _ Hamlet _ with me, but if you’d rather not…”

Kyoutani shakes his head, “I’ll still see it with you, I just… I just can’t date you…”

Misaki laughs, and Kyoutani feels his cheeks heat. “That’s fine, I’m just glad we’re here at all!” Folding her arm over his, Misaki smiles up at him again. “Let’s go before they stop letting people in!”

Kyoutani does his best to smile back, and they walk into Quirk together.

He doesn’t see Watari and Yahaba in the crowd, and the play begins soon after they’re seated. As the actors begin to set the scene and go through the story, Kyoutani feels his mind wander to the two of them. It’s clear they’re friends, and Kyoutani wonders how he never knew this about his lab partner. Then again, he and Watari didn’t exchange personal information - all he really knows about Watari outside of astronomy is that he’s an RA in one of the towers over by the police station where Iwaizumi works.

During the intermission, Misaki excuses herself to the restroom and Kyoutani heads out to the lobby. He pulls out his phone and messages Iwaizumi, asking if he’s at work that night. He doesn't get an immediate response, so he takes a moment to look at everyone else in the lobby. Watari and Yahaba are nowhere to be seen, and he tries to not feel disappointed by this fact. Still, if he did tell Watari about this fake date, then why bring Yahaba here?

Does that mean Yahaba likes him?

Kyoutani’s cheeks burn all the way up to his ears at the thought. God, he  _ hopes _ that’s the truth. It might explain how Yahaba ran into him before his “date” with Nametsu yesterday - if he remembers correctly, Yahaba said his writing class is on Mondays and Wednesdays until 12:30 and he clearly wasn’t in class.

He doesn’t want to get his hopes up, however. Yahaba just saw him on another date with another girl and didn’t say anything about it. Kyoutani takes a deep breath and turns to go back into the auditorium in time to meet Misaki there again. The next act starts a moment later, and she quietly thanks him again before turning her focus onto the actors on stage - which, wow, did the stage get messier after the intermission? What’s even happening in this play anymore?

Kyoutani doesn’t stand a chance at understanding the play however, as his thoughts focus on Yahaba and what it all means. He barely knows the guy, but he knew Kyoutani was in the same class when they met by chance on Monday. How long had Yahaba been watching him? Is that the only reason Watari was friendly with him before?

If Yahaba likes Kyoutani back, then did Watari tell him what he said about these dates? Is that why Yahaba hasn’t said anything about Kyoutani taking girls out?

Can Yahaba tell he likes him back?

_ Hamlet _ ends and Kyoutani stands with Misaki as she applauds the cast. He has no idea what happened in the play and he hopes Misaki won’t be mad at him if she wants to discuss it after. People begin to leave and Kyoutani takes Misaki’s arm again to lead her out of the building into the chilly November air.

“Thank you again, Kyoutani,” she says for probably the hundredth time, and Kyoutani can’t help but think she has crappy friends if none of them wanted to go see a play with her. “I never like going to plays alone, so it was nice.”

Kyoutani nods, “I’m glad you got to see the play…”

Misaki nods, bumping her fist against his shoulder. “And I’m glad you got to see your crush!”

Kyoutani flushes, staring at her. “What?”

“That Yahaba guy,” she says with a grin, “you clearly like him. Too bad, I don’t think I saw him once we were inside…”

“I,” he chokes on his words, unable to respond properly.

Misaki laughs, “well, all the best to you. I’m sure he likes you back.”

“Y-yeah,” he breathes, shaking his head, “hopefully… do you want me to walk you home?”

Misaki nods to her right, and Kyoutani turns to look at the dorms across the street. “I’m an RA in Downing, so I’ll be fine.”

Kyoutani turns back to her, bobbing his head a little. “Right… okay then…”

“Goodnight, Kyoutani,” she pats his arm, “and change your settings on Tinder before that weird roommate of yours tries to set up another date.”

He laughs at this, and Misaki giggles as well before turning to leave. Kyoutani waves her off, catching sight of more yellow down the sidewalk. He checks his phone, Iwaizumi’s answering text confirming that he’s at the station tonight. Without replying to him, Kyoutani pockets his phone and hurries after the yellow jackets.

“Hey, wait up!” He calls, and surprisingly it’s Kindaichi and Kunimi that turn to face him. “Walk me to the station,” Kyoutani says, holding out his student ID to Kunimi. Immediately their faces seem to light up; they must be low on quota tonight.

“Yeah, sure thing,” Kindaichi says before looking past him. “Oh, did you want a walk as well?”

Kyoutani turns around, Watari and Yahaba standing behind him. Watari is nodding to Kindaichi, stepping around Kyoutani to hand his ID off to Kunimi as well, “yeah, we’re heading to Hoyt if you don’t mind.”

Yahaba shifts his weight between his feet, and Kyoutani can do nothing but stare.

The sound of Iwaizumi’s voice over the radio reminds him of where he was going, and Kyoutani turns back to Kindaichi and Kunimi. “Thanks guys, it means a lot,” Kindaichi starts, and they all begin to move in the direction of the police station. “We only had ten walks so far, and we gotta have fifteen before shift ends.”

“Wait, there’s a quota system?” Watari asks, falling into step with Kindaichi.

“Yeah, it’s pretty dumb,” Kunimi answers before returning to the radio with Iwaizumi.

Kindaichi begins to complain about another group of walkers to Watari, who nods along and responds accordingly. Kyoutani doesn’t quite catch what they’re saying, focusing on Yahaba who walks beside him.

“Did you like the play?” Kyoutani asks, and Yahaba turns to him in surprise.

“Oh,” he mumbles, “yeah, Watari and I, uh… we kind of had to go for one of our classes.”

Kyoutani’s stomach drops at the information, and for a moment all he can think is that he was dumb to believe it was because of him. “I see…”

Yahaba nods, “yeah… did you enjoy it?”

“Couldn’t pay attention,” Kyoutani admits. “I have no idea what happened.”

Yahaba snorts, biting his lip. “Seriously?  _ Hamlet _ is a classic.”

“Don’t like plays,” Kyoutani mumbles, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“But you like books, right?” He glances over to Yahaba with a questioning look. “Well… I mean, you’re pretty vocal about things in sci-fi lit…”

Kyoutani isn’t quite sure what he means. “Where were you this morning?”

Yahaba looks away. “I just… wasn’t feeling well, I guess.”

Kyoutani doesn’t like that answer, but he doesn’t get a chance to press for more when Watari pulls Yahaba into a conversation with Kindaichi about something that Kyoutani has a difficult time following. He notices Kunimi looking back at him, and something about the look in his eyes tells him that he knows something Kyoutani doesn’t.

They reach Hoyt soon after and Watari and Yahaba wave to them all before going inside. Kunimi calls it in before he and Kindaichi turn to continue on to the station next door, but Kyoutani doesn’t immediately move.

“Kyoutani, are you still going to the station?” Kindaichi calls, and Kyoutani pulls his eyes from the entrance of the tower dorm. Instead of answering, he walks past them, heading directly for the station. They shuffle along behind him, but Kyoutani doesn’t look back as he pulls the doors open and steps inside to the student security office.

Matsukawa is the one to greet him, and behind him Kyoutani can hear Kunimi’s voice over the radio saying their walk was completed. “Kyoutani,” Matsukawa nods to him, stepping aside to let him in. “You know, there’s a reason we didn’t hire you.”

Iwaizumi is at the desk by the door, reading the timestamp out to Kunimi over the radio before turning to frown up at Matsukawa. “The only reason is because of that one girl who wears too much makeup said he frightened her,” he scowls, pointing at Matsukawa, “and we all know that it was really because he didn’t hit on her.”

Matsukawa scoffs, “yeah, and she’s been late several times this week. Guess I’ll tell Makki to fire her next time she comes in…”

Iwaizumi narrows his eyes. “You know she’ll be here today.”

“Not my problem,” Matsukawa replies, moving to the other desk in the room. “Hey, if you’re here for a job, we’re about to have an opening.”

Kyoutani gives him a look. “Oh yeah, I would love to work outside when it starts snowing.”

Matsukawa shrugs, “worth a shot…”

“So what are you here for?” Iwaizumi asks, making Kyoutani spin towards him. “If you forgot your keys I can loan you mine, but you’ll have to bring them back.”

Kyoutani shakes his head, pulling out his phone and dropping it on Iwaizumi’s desk. “No, it’s about what your stupid boyfriend did.”

Iwaizumi frowns, picking up his phone. “Damn, who did he set you with?”

“A bunch of girls,” Kyoutani snaps. “Is he so dumb that he doesn’t know that I’m gay?”

Iwaizumi quickly unlocks Kyoutani’s phone and pulls up the app with a frown. “Oh… my bad, I didn’t notice I set it up that way.”

Kyoutani stares at him. “What…?”

“Yeah, when Tooru said he was going to set you up with someone, I took your phone and set the profile up myself to make sure he didn’t put anything weird on it,” Iwaizumi shrugs, tapping through the menus. “Didn’t even notice I messed up the preferences.”

He can hardly believe it, and Matsukawa is now laughing on the other side of the room. “You… wait, how do you know my passcode?”

Iwaizumi holds his phone out to him after locking it. “I guess Oikawa watched you type it before - here, I fixed it. You should be able to find guys now.”

“My question is why Oikawa still set you up with girls,” Matsukawa chuckles, wiping away at the tears that gathered in the corners of his eyes from laughter. “Was he even paying attention?”

“Probably not,” Iwaizumi shrugs, the office phone ringing then. “I didn’t watch what he did after that,” he finishes off before answering the phone with the typical greeting.

Kyoutani pockets his cell and glances back at Matsukawa. Matsukawa sends him a look and shrugs. With Iwaizumi now busy, he sees no reason to stay. He heads back to the door and leaves, Matsukawa calling out about the job offer again.

He closes the door behind him and turns to walk down the station’s hall toward the connecting Marketplace, briefly considering picking up some snacks before walking home. Once he’s in the Marketplace however, Kyoutani doesn’t feel up to buying snacks and takes a seat at an empty booth, pulling out his phone.

There’s no way it’s going to change anything for him. Just because Tinder is now set to his actual preferences, it won’t change the fact that he’s got a crush on Yahaba.

Heaving a sigh, Kyoutani unlocks his phone and goes to his settings. He can at least update his security passcode and make sure Oikawa  _ or _ Iwaizumi can’t get into his phone again. Once that’s completed, Kyoutani hesitates and switches over to Tinder, worried about what he might see.

Immediately, he’s greeted with the most beautiful smile and the softest brown eyes that shine with orange hues. It’s a gorgeous photo, but it doesn’t compare the real deal - his brown hair that somehow gleams with silver hues in real life is dull in the picture, but Kyoutani still wants to reach out and run his fingers through the locks.

_ Yahaba Shigeru, 19 _

Kyoutani stares at his name, the profile picture, just… everything about this moment and how this is the first guy he gets to swipe left or right on. Of all the men within a certain distance to him, why is it Yahaba?

He doesn’t know what to do. On the one hand, he definitely wants to swipe right and see what happens from there. On the other, Yahaba seems to be avoiding him. Maybe he did something to scare Yahaba off, and if he did, he really wishes he knew what it was.

Either way, it’s Yahaba and Kyoutani wants something to happen.

Before he can even lift his hand and swipe right, someone is reaching over and doing it for him. Kyoutani can’t move, the screen going dark and “It’s a match!” popping up a second later.

Kyoutani has no idea what that means, but then someone is sitting down on the other side of the booth and Kyoutani looks up slowly. Yahaba is staring at the table top, cheeks red, biting his lip and twiddling his thumbs. “Hey,” he says, looking up at Kyoutani through his lashes.

Kyoutani feels a smile tug at his lips, softly whispering, “hey…”


End file.
